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¡Buenos días! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend! As we continue with our Indigenous Peoples book reviews, I want to highlight a resource recently shared by Alin, an Indigenous Reads by Indigenous Writers list. Although this list focuses on North America, we hope you will find this to be a useful resource when teaching about all of Indigenous America (North, Central, South and beyond). We intend for these books and resources to extend not only through Native American Heritage Month, but all year round.

Today we will be travelling to Venezuela with La Gran Canoa: Leyenda Kariña, retold by María Elena Maggi and illustrated by Gloria Calderón. This book illustrates the Kariña people’s legend of the great flood. It is written in Spanish and Calderón’s illustrations are breathtaking. She paints light-colored lines onto a black background, giving the illustrations an etched look, and bringing the different scenes to life with movement. It’s a technique that appears reminiscent of sgraffito painting. Continue reading →

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¡Buenos días! Today we will move further south in Mexico to a small Mazateca village in the state of Oaxaca with the children’s book, Napí, written by the Mexican muralist/activist Antonio Ramírez and illustrated by Mazateca artist/activist Domi (Domitila Domínguez). The two have worked together as partners and activists, particularly within the context of indigenous activism and the Zapatista movement in Mexico, and together founded the Colectivo Callejero (the Streetwise Collective) in 1982.

Napí tells the story of a Mazateca girl of the same name. In the story, Napí introduces herself and takes us into her world of home, life, family and dreams. She carefully and intimately shows us different elements of her village; these elements are normal parts of her day to day life, however, her descriptions, accompanied by Domi’s captivating illustrations, demonstrate that there is nothing mundane about them. Napí moves along through the pages, illuminating the beauty of plants, animals and other elements of nature.

Napí describes her family, plants and animals with love and warm respect, and her depictions portray how the elements of nature, such as the large ceiba tree outside of her home, take care of her, and she trusts in them to do so. It is the ceiba tree that brings Napí dreams. Napí cherishes her dreams and explains them with excitement. Throughout the book we get the overall feeling that Napí is in a familiar, loving and supporting environment. As De Colores reviewer Bevery Slapin explains, “She [Napí] says she is poor, but that is belief by the richness of her land, her culture, and the community of which she is a valued part.”

The simple and direct language in the book is well-accompanied by Domi’s expressive, deep and colorful illustrations. Continue reading →

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¡Hola a todos! We are already halfway through November! I cannot believe how fast this month is passing by. Here are this week’s resources.

— #IndigenousReads by Indigenous Writers: A Children’s Reading List. For centuries, Indigenous people have been represented in literature with stereotypes created and perpetuated by people not of an indigenous background. Now, Indigenous writers are taking it upon themselves and breaking into the publishing industry to share their own stories. ‘Most of what kids see in books today are best sellers & classics that stereotype & misrepresent Native people in history. There’s a lot of bias in them. The books that I recommend are ones that can counter that bias in several ways. One, they’re not stereotypical. Two, most of them are set in the present day, which is important in countering what we see in a lot of children’s & young adult literature, which says that we vanished, we didn’t make it to the present day, and of course we did.’ -Debbie Reese, Nambe Pueblo, of American Indians in Children’s Literature”

– The social movement and organization We Need Diverse Books has released a curated, book-finding app for librarians and teachers who want to find diverse books. The app is called Our Story. “An interactive quiz helps you find the perfect book.”

– Our friends at De Colores have highly recommended the bilingual book, 13 Colors of the Honduran Resistance/ 13 Colores de la Resistencia Hondureña, by Melissa Cardoza and translated by Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle. The book includes 13 short bilingual stories and essays compiled in honor of Berta Cáceres Flores, a social and environmental activist in Honduras who was assassinated in March of 2016. “Originally written in beautiful, poetic Honduran vernacular Spanish by Melissa Cardoza and with a careful idiomatic English translation by Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle—along with 13 black-and-white photos that visually highlight the diversity of the struggle—13 colores documents the resistance of all the abuelas, powerful sisters, and mamas who struggle to feed their children.”

– Find out which books to keep or toss with the help of the blog Booktoss. Their latest post (“Volume 3”) suggests skipping Skippyjohn Jones and treasuring La Princesa and the Pea. “Booktoss means we, the Literary Gatekeepers, need to be willing to see the problems with books and simply toss them aside. Yes. I said it. Toss the book aside. No burning or censoring (understand the difference between censoring and boycotting, please!). Just get rid of the racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist book and move on.”

– Lastly, Latinxs in Kid Lit shared a recent review in which Evangelina Takes Flight by Diana J. Noble is recommended for older young adults. The reviewer, Cris Rhods, a doctoral student at A&M University who focuses on the construction of identity in young adult literature, writes that “Diana J. Noble’s Evangelina Takes Flight is timely to a startling degree. As a work of historical fiction, Noble’s portrayal of upheaval in Mexico caused by the Mexican Revolution and Pancho Villa’s raids on farming villages remains relevant to this day. In confronting the racism and xenophobia rampant at the border, where shops display signs declaring ‘No Dogs! No Negroes! No Mexicans! No Perros! No Negros! No Mexicanos!’, Evangelina’s story parallels contemporary struggles for racial equality (92). As racial tensions build both in the text and in real life, Evangelina’s stand to keep her school desegregated feels remarkably current, and in its demonstration of child activism, Evangelina Takes Flight holds up a powerful example.”

Join us on Monday, December 11th at Tractor Brewing (1800 4th St NW) from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book. It’s another adult novel month! This month we decided to do a “fan favorite” and our book group chose Like Water for Chocolate/ Como agua para chocolateby Laura Esquivel. This book is available in both English and Spanish (each version is hyperlinked above)!

Here’s a sneak peek into the book: (from Goodreads)

A sumptuous feast of a novel, it relates the bizarre history of the all-female De La Garza family. Tita, the youngest daughter of the house, has been forbidden to marry, condemned by Mexican tradition to look after her mother until she dies. But Tita falls in love with Pedro, and he is seduced by the magical food she cooks. In desperation, Pedro marries her sister Rosaura so that he can stay close to her, so that Tita and Pedro are forced to circle each other in unconsummated passion. Only a freakish chain of tragedies, bad luck and fate finally reunite them against all the odds.

November is Native American Heritage Month. Typically, this means that the internet is flooded with underwhelming and endless lists of books highlighting “Indians and Pilgrims” – using this as the only opportunity throughout the year to discuss indigenous peoples of the US, and typically through a distorted lens.

We’re taking a different route, one that will celebrate the lesser-told stories of individual cultures and stories among Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

In this book, Tonatiuh tells his own version of the legend of Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl, which are the two volcanoes southeast of Mexico City. Tonatiuh recounts the legend of how these volcanoes came to be, but adds his own twist to this well-known Mexican story.

The book is a love story about the beautiful princes Itza, who falls in love with a warrior, Popoca. Itza’s father, the emperor, prefers that Itza marry a powerful tlatoani, or ruler, rather than a simple soldier. However, he concedes that if Popoca is able to defeat Jaguar Claw of the neighboring area, with whom they have been at war, Itza and Popoca can marry. Although Popoca fights bravely and eventually triumphs over Jaguar Claw, a twist in the plot leads Itza to believe that Popoca has actually been defeated. In her grief, Itza drinks a special octli (fermented beverage) and cannot be awoken. Popoca, grief stricken, lays her on a bed of flowers and remains by her side throughout time. And that is how the two volcanoes came to be. As Kirkus Reviews writes, it’s a story “equal parts melancholic and transcendent – a genuine triumph.” Continue reading →

¡Hola a todos! I am always delighted to assemble the resources for you!

— Here are the Premio Fundación Cuatrogatos 2017. Cuatrogatos is a nonprofit organizations that works to promote Spanish culture, language, and education, with a focus on children’s and young adult books. Its annual award was established to recognize high quality books created by Ibero-American writers and illustrators. This year’s list of award winners highlights 90 books written in Spanish.

– For those teaching older grades, you might be interested in teaching about the Role of Women in Drug Cartels as represented in popular media. “In short, the reality is this—on screen, we’re accustomed to seeing the women of the drug cartels as mere background players. But on the ground, things couldn’t be more different. Now that the DEA has captured El Chapo, it is a “queenpin” from the Medellín cartel’s past—Maria Teresa Osorio de Serna—who remains one of the few figures left on their most wanted list.”

– We hate to break it to you, but Dr. Seuss’ work is “complicated.” Read more about how “Dr. Seuss Draws Fresh Scrutiny.” “Seuss, like any other author, was a product of his time,” Martin said. “Fortunately, some authors grow and figure out that maybe some of the things they wrote early on were harmful and they try to make amends. Seuss did that.”

– We were excited to read that “A New Database Catalogues 1,300 Children’s Books About People of Color.” And they’re cataloging the books with nuanced search terms, which means that we can both find diverse literature and analyze how stereotypes can be reproduced even within the so-called diverse book world. “So far Aronson and her team have read and processed 1,300 books, with around 200 backlogged books left. The database can be searched with combinations of tags, like ‘Vietnamese,’ ‘Muslim,’ and ‘beautiful life’ to find books appropriate for different occasions, lessons, and readers. The database also reveals patterns in the ways kids are taught about people of color: Of the 10 books starring a Brazilian kid currently published in the US, half are about soccer. Half the books about Asian or Asian American characters are about culture, like The year of the sheep, about Chinese Zodiac signs, and a quarter are about folklore, like The ghost catcher, a retelling of a myth about a Bengali barber. About 2% of these have characters categorized by the database as ‘oppressed.’” Check out the Diverse Book Finder to explore its catalog.

– Finally, we have to share a recent post from The Open Book blog run by the wonderful folks at Lee & Low Books: Celebrate Native American Heritage Month + Poster Giveaway. “Historically, Native people have been silenced and their stories set aside, hidden, or drowned out. The #NoDAPL movement and the fight against racist portrayals for sports mascots brought Native American voices to the forefront of the news last year, but the issues that the community still have to deal with shouldn’t be brushed aside. This is why it’s especially important to continue to read stories about Native characters, by Native voices which brings us to some exciting news: last month, we brought back to print a special 40th Anniversary edition of Simon J. Ortiz’s beloved children’s book The People Shall Continue, which traces the history of Native and Indigenous people in North America. It includes updated illustrations by Sharol Graves and a new afterword by the author. It’s also available in a Spanish translation which you can purchase here.” Visit their blog to learn more and request a free poster for your classroom!

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Vamos a Leer is overseen by the Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII) at the University of New Mexico. The LAII is designated a National Resource Center for Latin America by the U.S. Department of Education. The Vamos a Leer blog supports K-12 teaching about Latin America by providing resources to educators, including lesson plans, author + book suggestions, and related materials.

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